Vacay - Or Was It?

You know it's going to be an interesting vacation when, five minutes into the trip, your car starts acting funny. Funny, as in RPMing up to 3,000....4,000 and NOT shifting. Good thing I had built in extra shopping time into the trip before Amber's orthodontic appointment.

A quick drive back into town to our car dealership revealed that we were NOT in for a quick fix. We loaded everything into a rental car (warning: Arkansas charges a 22% sales tax on rental cars), learned that the extended warranty on our broken car had expired, and hit the road again, a little gloomy. However, I kept telling myself it could have been worse - we had been back and forth to Conway (a three-hour drive one way) twice in the prior week...and the roads between here and there are isolated. A break-down on those trips, or further into our vacation, would have been horrible. Oh, and the trip to Conway was to take Amber to choir camp, where she worked hard and had a BLAST:

She's the one in the front, on the left. I still don't know why I pay for jeans that look like they have been molested by a werewolf.

Amber had not-so-good news at the orthodontist. Remember those stubborn baby teeth? Well, by not falling out, they have diverted the paths of her adult teeth. She will need oral surgery to remove the remaining baby teeth, cut open her soft palate and attach metal handles to her upper canines so the orthodontist can move them into place. I don't know what they will plan for her twelve-year molars that never erupted. Poor thing.

BUT, I keep telling myself it could be worse - she can survive this. My pocketbook may not survive, but she will.

Speaking of my pocketbook - one of my air conditioning units at the office building took a dive. Sigh. Sometimes it's great owning your own company.

When we arrived in Mountain View, AR....it was raining...but our cabin did have a view of the river:

The worst part about the cabin? No cell service. I thought Amber was going to have a coronary. Every so often she could get a text message thru, if she contorted her body behind the living room futon. We had to drive two miles into town to get service.

The next morning, when we DID drive into town before visiting the caverns, I got a fun little text message telling me my office building back home had flooded. Try focusing on vacation after THAT little gem.

Oh well, at least our adventure was NOT going to be ruined by rain, since we were going into Blanchard Springs Caverns. Check out this formation that resembles a ship:

It was a fascinating tour - my photos didn't do the caverns ANY justice. I was completely amazed. We took the "Dripstone" tour - which took us through the most highly decorated level of the caverns, after an elevator ride 216 feet down into the earth.

I was impressed with the lighting, which was done by a man who usually assembled lighting for opera houses. It made the caverns all that more beautiful. Once again, I was in awe at the wonderous beauty of our earth, and remembered how tiny we all are in the face of its majesty.

Roger had never seen this level of the caverns before, so he was impressed, too. He even got to visit a music store in downtown Mountain View, and joined a "pickin'" session with several other musicians. He must have spent an hour there, while Amber and I poked thru galleries and found treasures here and there.

Our last stop before leaving town was this rock:

That's Roger, standing underneath. Years ago - like over 17 years ago - his best friend took a photo almost identical at this very spot. It was neat to find this again, and almost two decades later, take a similar photo...which we then emailed to his friend.

We are back home - and have taken care of all the office flooding. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined, and Roger did a lot to help clean things up. Amber came back to a new cheer coach for the varsity squad - her coach from last year - which made her very happy. Shorty missed us terribly, but having Lucas house-sit definitely eased our minds about the care of our three animals. He did, however, start a new trend by allowing her to sleep with him in the guest bed. So guess who is sleeping with us now?

Tell me about your vacations, if you had one this summer!

We Survived!

Thank you to all of you who were concerned about the well-being of me and my family.

For those of you who were not aware, our small town of Mena, Arkansas, was devastated by an F3 tornado that hit Thursday night, April 9th. The town will never be the same, but the resilience of our community has been evident these past few days. I have never been so proud of the strength and generosity of the hard-working people here...

We only suffered three fatalities, which is mind-boggling, considering the aerial photos of the destruction, found at this link.

I also uploaded some photos here on my flickr site.

An image that says a lot, is one I captured two houses down from where my daughter's best friend lost her home:

The chalk on the siding says: "Katrina! Arkansas takes care of its own!"
The day after the tragedy, there were people with chainsaws everywhere. No one "waited to be rescued." We are tough. We will survive. And I thank God above that we weren't in our old home on Ninth Street anymore (even though we still own it). Times like these help us remember what the real priorities are in our lives - each other.

Lame Posting...But POSTING, Nonetheless!

I'm finally posting, and posting something I stole from Matt's Animal Mind.

I am waiting for an ice storm to hit our area today, and so far, I've been disappointed. I had planned a day of relaxation and goofing off, but I'm at work and the kiddo is at school. Is it wrong to wish for the power to stay on, yet want them to cancel school so I can shut down my office? I'm a kid in an adult body.

However, I found this gem, which brightened my spirits. Name all the cameos - I dare ya!

HIGH-FIVE INAUGURATION! - watch more funny videos

Here's hoping you are staying warm!

Fun Monday - and Five Words

The Nekked Lizard Clan is hosting this week's Fun Monday, which means we had to come up with five photos, and five words to describe each one. You will be happy to know that I totally followed the rules!

Dawg Tired on the Couch.
Always Ready for Some Football.
Snowman Hydrant Needs a Face.
Birds No Read So Good.
Baby Girl is Growing Up.Go visit the Lizards, and all the participants!

NaBloPoMo Day Two - My House KNOWS

I have lived in a sweet LITTLE Victorian bungalow for the last 14 years - and in retaliation for our impending move, it is self-destructing. First, the oven decided that 350-degrees REALLY meant 550-degrees - so one of my agents gave me another oven. My house made sure that the donated oven malfunctioned and imploded, too. We didn't replace the oven a second time - after all, it was about summertime, and we didn't need the extra heat.

Next? Two of our window air conditioners blew. Or didn't blow. We had to replace at least one of them, lest we melt from the summer heat. Cha-CHING!! Then the weather got cooler, and it was time to pull out our little electric heaters that supplement the heat from our gas stove. Guess what? NOT ONE of them worked. Okay - extra blankets, extra clothing, and the purchase of ONE heater for the bathroom, b/c we can't wear clothes in the shower. Tiny cha-ching!

A few days later, the dryer revolted, ruining about 10 precious items of clothing with scorch marks. We replaced THAT item immediately. Cha-CHING!!

The other night? Look at this:Oh no...no...no...no!! Live without tv in the bedroom? No late-night chuckles at David Letterman? No last-minute scandalous report from TMZ? And the horror of horrors - NO WEATHER??!?!?!? NOT gonna happen.

We had planned to let Amber have this tv for her room, move our current living room tv into the new bedroom, and buy a ridiculously huge plasma tv for the new living room.

Guess who got her tv early, and is letting us borrow it?
Can you say, Cha-CHING?!?!?!?

Family Fun on the Un-Fourth

Ah...the family tradition, and the holiday I get VERY excited about - the Fourth of July! However, since Roger and I have to get up early to work on the 5th, we decided to have a premature celebration on the night of the 3rd. Who said we were normal, anyway?

On the way to Roger's dad's house - the site of the annual event, we saw the most amazing thing. It's been raining for WEEKS, and yesterday was no exception. However, after the rain stopped, we saw a full rainbow, spreading across the hilly region where we were headed. I was driving the car when we spotted it and couldn't stop to take a photo until we arrived at Paw's. But, I managed to capture half of it. It was the perfect start to our evening - and I just wish I had been able to take a better photo. Mother Nature's little contribution to the festivities.Now, when I say I enjoy this holiday - I mean it. I take it VERY seriously. Roger always rolls his eyes when we do the shopping for fireworks, b/c even though we do buy the traditional items, nothing will stop me from buying at least two large packages of mortars. LARGE packages. We lay the bounty on the hood of his dad's truck, and my job is the unwrapping and untwisting of the fuses.And THIS year, I didn't have much help. Why? Well, The Offspring spent a good deal of time hanging out with A BOY. A BOY. Nothing like teenage-years to make a mother's heart grow faint, but The Offspring really likes this BOY. To be honest, ANY boy would make me nervous. The Offspring is growing up - yet she is still a petite little thing. And THE BOY is two years older than her - but looks like a giant next to my precious baby! He seems to be a nice kid, and he has made an huge effort to be upfront and communicative with Roger and me. He has tried to put our minds at ease about his intentions, and he is very open with us - so far. But, let's be honest, he's still A BOY. Sigh.At least they won't be able to see much of each other. They have this strange affliction that causes their hair to flop over one eye. So they'll only see each other half as much as normal kids.

Another fine family tradition is the "Redneck Launching System." Since Roger's medical background has exposed him to all sorts of trauma, his greatest fear is that someone will lose an eye or a limb during our blasting sessions. Well, what better way to solve any construction dilemma than to use copious amounts of duct tape? Hey, we be country folks. We know how to do this stuff up right.A friend and his two young daughters came with us this year, so to pass the time until it got completely dark, the girls lit the traditional sparklers.Paw is getting up there in years, but doesn't he look proud of all our loot? We're gonna have a bang-up good time. Oh, and the toilet seat? Well, Paw is also a Yellow Dog Democrat, so he was showing us his latest invention. If you lift the lid, the "bowl" has a photo of George W. inside, and the lid portion says, "Flush." Clever Paw.These Arkansas men have set the stage and seem satisfied that the correct trajectory will be achieved. Nothing like a few heavy rocks and a cinder block to ensure stability.Better yet, the launcher must be tested while it is still daylight, lest any additional adjustments need be made to the Redneck Launching System. Wastes a couple of mortars, but when you have over 100 of them - what's a few wasted?Well, now that seems to be just right. Let's see what the launch looks like in the dark.Oh yeah - at this point, my heart is racing with excitement - we're going to be rockin' the hillside like nobody's business! First, we start off with some of the smaller, self-contained fireworks.Okay, okay - I'm about to pee my pants, waiting for the big show - so let's get it GOING! WOOOHOOOO!I've got this fireworks setting on the camera, and I had to try several times to get good photos and time the capture just right.The littlest lady had to take a break under the carport with Paw. Plus, it's tough to carry a two-year old on my hip while taking photos and keeping my eye on The Offspring and THE BOY. It IS dark, now, after all.This is when we go...Ooooooooh....and Aaaaaaaah....and RUN! RUN! RUN!FANTABULOUS!! I'm so excited - but I can't light the mortars fast enough to be able to run away and reposition for photography's sake, so I let the boys handle it, resulting in photos like this:The boys got it down to a science after the first few rounds, figuring out how to tie the fuses together and synchronize their lighters. They managed to get all four mortars to launch within seconds of each other.Makes for a great display. I'm lovin' every minute of it.And what kind of fireworks celebration would it be without a good old-fashioned Roman Candle War?Getting near the end, my photo technique got better.Oh yeah, just like I like it.Putting on this show (mostly for MY benefit) does take its toll, as evidenced by Roger's hands.

Another fantastic holiday with no limbs lost. I can't wait until next year!

Ice, Ice, Baby

I am a weather junkie. I have been watching this past weekend's storm with anticipation, flipping back and forth between the playoff games and the Weather Channel. I don't usually want bad weather, but I've had such a hard time getting back into the groove after the holidays that I wanted a school cancellation in the worst way. If school is cancelled, I don't have to get up early. I can call my office while snuggled in bed and tell them if they need me, come try to find me under the mountain of blankets, afghans and comforters. Being the boss has its perks.

I woke up to light sleet this morning, and thought SURELY it was too treacherous for a school bus. Evidently, the school's transportation department didn't agree. To make matters worse, we figured there wouldn't be any trash service due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. But on my way back from dropping off the child, I spied trash trucks. Roger had already gone to work (seems like they NEVER close that hospital), so I had to haul stinky trash bags to the curb. I think I've done this maybe one other time during our marriage. What a way to start off my Monday.

I spent some time this weekend worrying about blogger buddies Shauna, Ree, and Julie. How strange it is to worry about folks you don't really "know" - yet feel a personal connection to through the blogosphere! Thankfully, they all seem to be faring just fine - and you should take a moment to check out Ree's site for some cute photos of her enjoying the ice and snow.

Finally, there are only four teams left in the race for the Super Bowl - who would you like to see win? (I'm hoping it is Peyton's year - I'd like to see the Colts and Saints face off for the big game.) And for those of you who love to criticize stars for their lack of fashion sense, don't forget to check out tonight's Golden Globes.